As was the case in Shanghai last year,
the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix proved to
be a thrilling strategic battle, with tyre
strategy determining much of the final
outcome.
The battle of the brains on the pitwall
led to a nail-biting race in which rubber
was king, winners and losers made by
the number and timing of stops and the
condition of rubber in the closing stages
of the grand prix.
For much of Sunday’s race, Lotus
driver Kimi Raikkonen appeared to be one
of the winners. The Finnish driver started
in P4, and held his position until lap 10,
the first of his two stops.
Returning to the action in P6,
Raikkonen sat comfortably within the
points until his second and final stop on
lap 28, having climbed up to P2 before
heading for the pits.
With 28 laps left to the flag, few
observers expected the Lotus driver to
be running till the end – none of the
other two-stoppers were on the same pit
strategy, as the lateral loads in Shanghai
lead to relatively high degradation on
both compounds, no matter how cool the
air and track temperatures.
That two-stop strategy proved to be
Raikkonen’s downfall, as he was unable
to defend his position on his ailing Pirellis.
With what was presumed to be the
final round of pit stops out of the way,
Raikkonen looked to be on course for
a likely podium, and a certain finish in
the points. But it was not to be, as the
Finnish driver slid from P2 to P12 in the
course of a single lap.
Passed by Sebastian Vettel on lap 47,
Raikkonen then slid onto the marbles and
let half of the field past as he struggled
to regain grip. The ensuing battles for
position in the top ten led to one of
the most exciting grand prix finishes in
recent memory.
“We tried to run two stops as it looked
to be the fastest strategy and up until the
last ten laps it was looking good, but we
ran out of tyre performance at the end,”
the Finnish driver explained. “I was stuck
behind Felipe [Massa] for quite a while
and couldn't get past as I wasn't fast
enough in the right parts of the track to
make a move.
“Even if I'd got past I don't think it
would have made the greatest amount
of difference to the final result. We had
good pace in the race, we tried a different
strategy and it didn't pay off today; it's is
simple as that.”
Romain Grosjean, meanwhile, scored
his first Formula One points for Lotus,
having finally broken out of his ‘score
Saturday, retire Sunday’ streak.
STRICKEN
RAIKKONEN
BEHIND
THRILLING CHASE
TO THE FLAG
29
GPWEEK.com //
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